Funny little story while trying to hire a fractional CTO

[thewordgirl]

@billybob67 Working on it! This project is also a fully laid interview to see if the individual should be my full time CTO.

 

[mishamarie]

@thewordgirl There’s honestly far less overlap than you’d expect between qualified people looking for fractional CTO roles and qualified people looking for permanent cofounder/CTO roles. I think most people in the second camp would be pretty averse to building the product in an extended interview with no promise of equity.

 

[thewordgirl]

@mishamarie TBD!

 

[billybob67]

@thewordgirl Few things that might be helpful:

• Background:
  • In my current position co-foudner/CTO, I was not looking for a non-technical co-founder (he found me - which I thought was probably an impossible task: non-technical founder finding a technical co-founder)
• How to stand out in finding a technical co-founder:
  • Get customer interest
  • Record the zoom calls (use fathom or something like it) and share with technical candidates
  • Record the features/needs in a spreadsheet and share
  • Have a vision on what the next 6-12 months looks like and how to get there
  • Get some LOI's if you can

The above will give someone confidence that your product is in need and it is a worthy endeavor to build a company with you. I would highly recommend a co-founder fit survey as well.

 

[weirdscience89]

@thewordgirl Genuine question - if software devs at the largest companies get paid hundreds of thousands a year, did you not think app development was complex? Why else do you think they get rewarded handsomely?

Or were you not aware that these are quite competitive roles that pay very attractive salaries?

 

[kozluv]

@thewordgirl Fractional CTO became an over abused term unfortunately

You’re looking for someone with real leadership experience. While 99%+ of the people reaching out to you are ICs with no relevant experience.

People’s management is career change. It’s not an “add on” on a software engineer. These people are not hanging around where developers are, for the same reason surgeons don’t hang out there (that not entirely true, trying to make a point).

So you either find a great full time technical co founder that could potentially level up. Or find an actual fractional CTO. I think the co founder path is easier tbh

 

[thewordgirl]

@kozluv I agree almost across the board.

This project based CTO/PM role is really an interview to bring somebody on full-time.

 

[bevm]

@thewordgirl I know this technically isn’t the answer you’re looking for, but I would highly recommend using a no code platform to build your MVP yourself and test with potential users to figure out what features you really need. Later on you can show the no code MVP to traditional developers, and there will be less communication errorerror in what you’re trying to have them build.

 

[thewordgirl]

@bevm Thanks for looking out! As a non-technical founder, I would have loved to find a no-code solution. And I looked for nearly 2 months, but nothing can get us a product with the complexity that my market requires for an MVP.

So, now I’m taking CS50 and I love it. I’ve completed half course in six days! I want to be a better CEO to my technical leads.

 

[skycastle]

@thewordgirl Did you look at Sharetribe? I think they just released a relatively big update within the past few months. If you can say, what kind of complexity are you trying to accomplish?

 

[jordanmarli]

@skycastle Actually working on a marketplace and was gonna build it on webflow but this is much better. Thank you so much

 

[kmack7]

@thewordgirl Then you need to reduce the complexity. Why is all the complexity needed? What is your core offering? If your idea is just based on providing a bunch of features and there is nothing that would work on its own as a hero product then the idea needs to pivot.

 

[congestus100]

@thewordgirl I have some experience running teams as a C level and also working with various stakeholders so let me give you my perspective. I am sure some will disagree because my view is the opposite to what you have described.

"I don't know" is the right answer. A CTO does not have access to skills and information that nobody else has access to. They simply have experience. And through experience they probably know that every company is different. So what works for their previous company might not work at all for their new role. It really takes time to be an effective C-level. I think that on average it should take 1-3 months during which you should aim not to make any major changes which I believe could risk sending the company on the wrong track. One of the main jobs of the C-level is to come up with 2-3 important goals and drill them into people's heads. You need to do other things too but this is very important. These 2-3 items could really make a difference. So the CTO is more of a curator with good taste and awareness of market trends.

As to your question, how do you hire technical people if you are not technical, well, it is the same as trying to pick the best quality wine without knowing anything about wine. You can use multiple factors, rules of the thumb, to make an educated guess. You can look at who made it, the price, the presentation, etc and those could be good properties that help the selection. If the wine is really expensive you should consult with an expert that will help you make the best choice

 

[thewordgirl]

@congestus100 Thank you for the thoughtful response

In my effort for comedic effort and brevity, I just wrote a simple “I don’t know.”

In reality, this “I don’t know” was essentially “I actually embellished the scope of my experience, and I am not qualified for the job“ rather than a “this is a thoughtful question that requires additional information” answer.

 

[jaaye]

@thewordgirl You need a technical person you can trust to weed through applicants. They need to be senior.

I am a UX designer, in case you want to throw the work past another designer to make sure you’re doing things that make sense, I have a bit of spare time. All good either way

 

[thewordgirl]

@jaaye All set on the UX side

 

[davidcochrane]

@thewordgirl Fractional CTO = consultant. Be extremely careful empowering someone without ownership.

 

[henry_]

@thewordgirl Ainoway bro looking for a CTO on fucking fiverr

 

[erth]

@thewordgirl I mean this thread wreaks of you not wanting a cofounder that you have to provide significant incentives / equity to.

Your idea ain't shit if you can't execute. No credible founder is going to interview for a part time position in hopes that you upgrade them to CTO "if it goes well"

 

[vesselofhonor]

@thewordgirl How much do you pay ?